18-Karat Run
by NessaroseEast
Summary: It began with her on her knees, gun at her head. It ended with him on his knees, gun at his head.
1. Bang Bang

As a tribal, Benny had done some messed up shit in his life. He figured he was done with that, what with getting a top-shot position on the Strip.

But now he was in the middle of fucking nowhere, getting ready to shoot some courier girl, and for what? Money? Power? The Strip? It sure as hell wasn't for the sake of his conscience.

He had to keep telling himself it needed to be done. One bullet in the head, clean through, and some of his problems would go away. Besides, it would be nicer to her if it was a one-shot. No pain, less suffering.

But only if the Khan would hurry up and finish digging the damn hole before she came round.

Too late. The girl shifted and groggily got onto her knew as the Khan stopped digging the shallow hole.

The girl blinked a few times as the Khan said, "You got what you were after, so pay up."

"You're crying in the rain, paly," Benny said, glancing at him.

One of the other Khans said, "Guess who's wakin' up over here."

Benny took a long drag from his cigarette before dropping it on the ground and crushing it under his foot. He slowly let the smoke go.

He had to shoot the girl, that much he had already come to terms with. He wasn't above just putting a cap in her head while she was still down, but he sure as hell wasn't ready to look her in the eye and do it. On the other hand, he couldn't have one of the Khans do it for him. That'd make him look weak.

Benny turned to the courier. "Time to cash out." He took a step forward.

"Would you get it over with?" one of the Khans said.

Benny lifted his hand to silence him and said, "Maybe Khans kill people without lookin' them in the face." He brought his hand down and said over his shoulder, "But I ain't a fink - dig?"

Benny looked back at the courier and pulled the chip from inside his jacket, admiring how the moonlight reflected off its surface. "You've made your last delivery, kid."

Benny replaced the chip safely in his jacket and pulled out Maria.

"Sorry you got twisted up in this scene. From where you're kneeling, must seem like an 18-karat run of bad luck." Benny pointed Maria at the girl's head. He could see her sky blue eyes were wide in terror, her gaze shifting from his gun to his face, silently pleading him to not shoot her.

Benny clicked the safety off. "Truth is, the game was rigged from the start."

The gun went off and Courier Six fell back with the force of the bullet.


	2. Not Dead

When Benny arrived back on the Strip, he decided he deserved a few nights off before leaving to finish his plan of taking New Vegas for himself. Besides, there were some new acts Tommy wanted him to check out, and some of the Chairmen were getting mighty suspicious of his disappearing act. The rumor he had started about having a Gomorrah gal up in his suite wasn't going to fly much longer.

On this particular night, he was standing with his back to the casino floor, leaning against the railing behind him. He was talking to one of the Chairmen, getting updated with what's been going on in his casino while he's been away, when the man stopped talking and nodded over Benny's shoulder.

Benny guessed it was some gambler coming to complain about how the games are fixed. It wouldn't be the first time.

What he wasn't expecting was the courier he shot and buried in Goodsprings to be standing right in front of him. This was a first.

"What in the goddamn...?" Benny took in her appearance as he struggled to come up with something to say. She might've been wearing a pre-war dress and bonnet, but damn did she look like she'd been through hell. Not including the off-center scars on her head he had given, she had shown up with a few more since. There was a laser burn on her upper arm, a few of her fingers looked like they had been broken and set badly, and a chunk of one of her calves was missing, among other scars, some still covered.

Benny swallowed and tried to keep himself calm. "Let's keep this in the grove, hey? Smooth moves. Smooth..." A rumor popped into his head from the day before and it clicked that this chick must've been the one that people saw going into House's casino. "Hello! That broad everyone saw go in the Lucky 38, that was you? Oh, shit."

He knew he was screwed. House knew he had the Chip. The girl had to have told him. Why the hell else would he let her in when he's never let anyone in before?

The courier gave him a flirty smile and leaned against the card table behind her. "When you shot me, you ran off so fast I never got your name."

Benny almost couldn't process that she was hitting on him, it was so crazy."You making a pass at me, sister? Because I'm out of your league."

The girl rolled her eyes and shot him another smile. "Is it wrong to want a guy who'd shoot me in the head?"

Yes, Benny thought to himself, might as well go big or go home and said, "Did those bullets scramble your egg? Or have you always been a naughty broad...?"

She shrugged and gave him a coy smile. "Girls like bad boys. And you've been downright awful."

Benny shook his head as he said, "You're one sick pussycat, baby. There's quins and then there's... I don't even know what to call you."

"I'm saying I dig you, despite it all. What do you say?"

There is something seriously wrong with her, Benny thought. But he wasn't gonna say no when a pretty lady walked across the Mojave for a roll in the hay. "I hear 'dig' from you, babe, and all I can think of is a shovel. How can this be? This ain't forgiveness, it's something... wrong."

The woman took a step forward and placed her hands on the railing. "I'm a courier, remember? Don't you want me to handle you package?"

Really? Benny thought. This is how she's going to get me alone? There's no way she could have brought something dangerous in here. Let's see where this is gonna go.

He fished his spare key out of his pocket and handed it to the courier. "All right honey baby, this is all kinds of wrong, but to my suite it is. Thirteenth floor. Don't keep me waiting." He walked away, glancing at the courier. Her face was screwed up in confusion, like she couldn't believe her "sweet talking" actually got him into bed. That made two of them.

When he got up to his suite, he made sure to lock the door behind him. He patted Maria in his jacket's inside pocket. He knew anything could happen when she got up here. He wasn't afraid to protect himself in case she came in guns blazing.

He heard the suite doors open and close and he straightened his jacket. He turned around with a grin when his bedroom door opened. The courier closed the door behind her and turned to look at Benny with that coy smile of hers.

"Benny is gonna show you the Tops!" he said, almost laughing out loud at referring to himself in third person. "I hope you're built sturdy, you crazy broad!"

The girl took a few steps forward and placed a hand on Benny' chest. "Let's see what you've been hiding under that checkered suit."

"More than you've ever dreamed, baby," he mumbled into her hair while she removed his jacket.

As they lay there, dozing in each others arms, Benny couldn't help but feel that this was going to be his last semi-happy moment. He already decided he would leave first thing in the morning - that is, if he lived through the night. She looked like she was sleeping, but she had looked dead so he wouldn't push faking it past her. Besides, he wouldn't blame her for killing him, he tried to kill her. And if she did, she'd end up finding Yes Man so at least she'd know what he was planning to do and how to do it herself. She wouldn't have to be House's puppet.

Just before he fell asleep, Benny said in a quiet voice, "Hold me, will ya? I swear you wore me out..."

She moved closer and tightened her grip around him, burying her face in his neck.

It was easy for Benny to slip out the next morning. She had turned around in her sleep so her back was facing him. She hadn't killed him, surprisingly. She had every right to do so, but hadn't. And he wasn't going to kill her, even though he had the perfect opportunity. She was brave and strong enough to cross the desert looking for him. If he messes up on his way to the fort, she needed to be able to take his place. She was the only one who could do that.

He felt bad about wanting to just leave her, so he scribbled a quick note to her and left it on the bedside table and left for his secret elevator. He walked right past Yes Man to avoid being sucked into a conversation, which would be loud enough to wake the dead. The doors closed behind him and he leaned against the wall. He thought about his night with the courier and smiled.


	3. On the Ground

**A/N: I've finaly finished this story after a year of not writing. I've also re-written the previous chapter, so please take a look. Thank you for reading this story, I appreciate it.**

Benny's knees were aching from where he had been kneeling. Not like he could stop, unless he wanted a painful death. Legion boys swarmed in and out of Caesar's tent, like the busy bees they were, and Benny strained to hear news, any news. It had been almost two weeks, and Benny was starting to lose hope the Courier was ever going to come around. She had to know he had the Chip - well, had had the Chip. Caesar had it now.

His wrists were raw from where the rope was rubbing into them. He didn't know why the Legion was keeping him alive, unless they were expecting the Courier to show up, with him as bait.

Joke's on them, Benny thought. That crazy chick isn't gonna want anything to do with me. Bet she won't come for me, just the Chip.

Another week and there still wasn't any word, and Benny didn't feel like he was going to be able to hold on for much longer. He didn't take much notice when the Legionaries straightened up, some of them gripping their machetes.

He did notice the woman who walked into the tent. The only woman in the whole Mojave who would walk straight up to Caesar without even flinching, and without any weapons that he could see. The only free woman in the whole Legion camp. The woman with crazy scars all over, bubblegum pink hair, and eyes blue as the pre-war sky. The woman who tracked Benny across the Mojave twice now. The woman who will have no choice but to kill him, even when she let him live the last time she saw him.

Benny didn't bother trying to hear the Courier's conversation with Caesar, they were too far away. She glanced at him twice though, that much he could see. Caesar handed her what was probably the Chip, and she nodded. After a moment, she turned towards Benny and walked up to him.

He fought a relieved grin back and said, "Go ahead and laugh, baby. I ain't blind to the humor in this situation."

She just frowned at him, a little crease forming in between her eyes. She crossed her arms. "You have no one to blame but yourself."

Benny rolled his eyes. "Did I say I blame society? I know why I'm here, baby. Do you?" He shifted a little and said, "Down to brass tacks. How'd your meet and greet with Baldie go?"

She smirked a little, and cleared her throat. "He gave me the Platinum Chip."

Benny nodded. "Sure, Baldie wants you to go down in the bunker and destroy whatever Mr. House stashed down there. Oh, you don't want to do that, baby. Whatever's down in that bunker is the key to the city called Vegas. So here's what you do." He lowered his voice before continuing. "You go down there and use the Chip to do whatever Mr. House woulda wanted you to do. And when you get back to the Strip, you find Yes Man. I made it so that cat can't help but be helpful, dig?"

The Courier nodded and looked away, sighing. She thought for a moment before looking back at Benny and said, "Caesar says I get to decide how you die."

Benny looked down at her feet. "Try not to smile so wide, baby. You might break your mouth. Yeah, Baldie said you'd get to decide. So which way you leaning?"

"What if I helped you escape?"

Benny sharply looked back up, and incredulous look on his face. If she helped him out, every Legionary would be on her ass. She'd die. Probably. Well, the odds were more on her side.

"Sweet to offer, baby, but if you cut these ropes every Legionary in this camp's gonna come running. With machetes. Now on the other hand, if I had a Stealth Boy and a bobby pin, I could see myself out. Know what I mean?"

She chewed her lip before asking, "If I help you escape, what will you do next?"

Benny shook his head. This girl had the craziest things to say. "Baby, if you show me the door to scramsville, that's where I'll go - out of your hair, never to return. I been a fink to you, caused more than my share of grief by a hard mile. Let me go, you won't see me again."

"I'll see what I can do."

Benny grimaced. "Check's in the mail, hey? Don't get my hopes up."

She frowned again and turned away, walking out of the tent.

Benny watched her leave, a pain in his chest that he couldn't identify.

About an hour later, there was some sort of explosion that made the ground shake. Everyone in the tent tensed, but when nothing else happened, they began to relax again. Another half an hour later, the Courier entered the tent again.

She walked straight to Caesar, not glancing at Benny. She spoke to Caesar for a moment, before nodding and moving over to Benny.

"So, baby, what did you find down there?" he asked, not meeting her eyes.

She sighed and frowned. She shook her head a little and said. "None of your business. It's time for you to die."

Benny nodded and looked away altogether. "I see. And how's that gonna happen?"

Benny could hear her swallow before she said, "I've decided to kill you here and now."

Benny looked back at her and licked his lips nervously. "I see. Keep it simple, hey? Around here, it's one of the better options..."

The Courier paused for a moment, just staring at him. He shifted as much as he could without looking like he was squirming.

"Close your eyes, if you want," she said.

She hadn't pulled out any weapon. Benny looked at her curiously. "Nah, I'd rather see it coming. Do it, baby. Make it clean."

She glanced around the tent before kneeling in front of Benny. She put her hands on his chest.

"What're you-?" Benny began, but she pulled him forward by his jacket and kissed him. Benny felt bubbly as he kissed her back. She pulled away and his heart sank when he noticed Maria in her hand. She aimed the gun at his head.

"Don't miss, hey?" he said.

She gave him a sad look and said, "You didn't. I was just lucky." She clicked the safety off. "I'm sorry, Benny."

And he believed her.


End file.
